I specialize in the literature and culture of China’s late imperial era, a period that roughly spans the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries. My research projects revolve around one central question: How does literature provide a platform that helps people cope with constant social changes?

The central research question has led me to examine literary representations of the human body and bodily experiences in two projects: The Costuming Project and The Body Project. The first focuses on theatrical costuming as a way to negotiate ethnic, gender, and cultural identities at a time of dynastic upheaval; and the second studies the human corpse as a site of both knowledge production and social interaction.

After more than a decade studying and working in North America, and having lived in New England, the Midwest, the American South, and now the Quebec Canada, I have developed a new interest in Asian diaspora and its ties to Asian American history. This has led to my experimentation and exploration through the emerging Interlinguality Project.

My initial interest in pursuing a career of literary studies was sparked by a serendipitous encounter with a book titled Lectures on Chinese Poetry of the Han-Wei and Six Dynasties 漢魏六朝詩講錄 written by the renowned poetry scholar Chia-ying Yeh 葉嘉瑩. I am both excited and honored to reconnect with this original calling through coordinating the Foo-hooa Se 復華詩 (Renaissance of Chinese Poetry) program in which I oversee the long-standing Hsiang Lectures series and edit the journal Hsiang Lectures on Chinese Poetry.

I have also co-edited a special issue that explores women and gender in late imperial China.

Most of my research materials are situated in the context of late imperial China, but they are closely tied to China’s millennia-long history prior to and after that period. In examining those materials and their historical contexts, I have consistently found myself drawn to three interconnected issues: the material conditions and literary representations of personhood, the production and performance of literature, and the gendered dimensions of writing. Those interests have allowed me to explore widely beyond studies of Chinese literature.